Though Republicans may currently not have a visible organization on campus, there could still be a sizable minority, according to McDaniel.

“Just because you see more liberals doesn’t mean there’s a huge disproportion,” McDaniel said.

Associate Professor Francis Neely noted that many SF State students come from Southern California, which may affect their views and the campus’ political composition.

“We have a lot of students from Southern California these days, so that adds some diversity in because some places in Southern California are quite conservative: Orange County for example, San Diego County,” said Neely, who teaches in the political science department.

Despite the sizeable conservative minority, many young people feel vocally restricted due to social morays, according to Daniel Higa, the manager at the San Francisco Republican Party.

“College is a very social thing and a lot of times it’s hard to state what you really want to say when your teacher may look down on you, your colleagues might look down on you,” said Higa, who is also a student at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, and the only paid employee at the non-profit organization. “Colleges are mostly liberal-run, they don’t want to be singled out.”

Republican students on campus face difficulties expressing themselves in a classroom setting as well, Fabian said.

“It can be a very hostile environment for conservative students, very intimidating for a student who doesn’t know much about life but might have a general idea of their beliefs,” he said.

Fabian recalled his experience in a communications class, where he said the professor made an example of a student essay that expressed conservative ideals.

“He showed it to the faculty and everyone in the class, and everyone started laughing,” said Fabian, an active member of the College Republicans during his four years at SF State. “I automatically had a fear I was going to fail the class.”